A crack or joint in a concrete roadway may be filled with a crack and joint sealant, such as an ASTM-D6690 Type II crack and joint sealant. Currently, there are hundreds of millions of pounds of black ASTM-D6690 Type II crack and joint sealant in the road.
However, concrete roadways are generally gray in color. Thus, a concrete roadway that is sealed with a black or very dark ASTM-D6690 Type II crack and joint sealant may be aesthetically unpleasant. Furthermore, the contrast in colors of the crack and joint sealant and concrete may distract drivers on freeways and other roads, introducing safety concerns. Since millions of miles of concrete road have cracks and expansion or other joints that need to be and will be sealed every year, there is an opportunity to provide a solution that may overcome those drawbacks.
Applying crack and joint sealant that is the same color as the concrete to which it is being applied may address those issues. Various civic officials and transportation engineers have therefore requested use of a crack and joint sealant that has a color closer to that of the concrete to which it is being applied.
Though gray crack and joint sealants may have been produced and marketed, no such sealant is believed to have met the ASTM-DD690 Type II specification. Therefore, those sealants cannot be applied to roads such as those that include Portland cement concrete and asphaltic concrete pavements.
Accordingly, there may be a need for a gray crack and joint sealant that complies with the ASTM-D6690 Type II specification and is lighter and closer to the color of the roads and pavements in which it is to be applied than existing black or very dark crack and joint sealants.